Loving Laments
by ChocoPopTart
Summary: Cloud Strife has just started high school at Midgar High with his childhood friend, Zack Fair, who he secretly has a crush on. As far as his love goes, something's wrong with Cloud's head, something no one knows about. Rated M: Language, OOCness, yaoi.


**Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait to get started on this rewrite, but things are kinda getting bad here at home, and I've been pretty occupied, despite it being summer vacation. Anyway, thank you for being patient, for those of you that might have been waiting for the rewrite, and if you just clicked on the story link now, and have no idea what this story is about, info's a little further down.**

**Happy readings!**

_**Rated M: **_for language, alcohol, violence, and OOCness.

_**Warning!**_**:** Note that this is a yaoi story, which means male x male. If you're not into that, then I suggest you either click that back button, or if you desire, keep reading. I know some people just read this genre for the drama, so if I do decide to put a lemon in here, I shall mark it accordingly ( *-*), in case you don't wish to read it.

**Note:** Some things will be roughly based on Japanese schools and culture (with some tweaks), so if it doesn't seem like it's something you're used to, you know why….unless you live in Japan. Then I envy you =3 I will label the Japanese culture stuff, and place them at the end of each chapter. *, **, etc.

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><p><em><span>Chapter 1: Beginnings<span>_

It's the 4th of March, the start of the first day of school in Midgar High.

The school bell rang as it signaled its students to make their way to their classes. The returning 11th and 12th graders made their way to their classes, whilst the new arriving 10th graders waited outside the school gates, awaiting the person that would give them their school orientation.*

Away from the crowd, was a boy, sitting on a bench nearby, constantly looking around for someone. He sighed as he waited.

The boy's name, was Cloud Strife.

He is tall, slightly pale and skinny young man, with spiky, blonde hair that seems to just stick out in every possible direction, but feels soft, like a puppy's fur. His eyes were a beautiful shade of blue, yet they were covered by black, thick-framed glasses, which shut off the way his eyes would shine in sunlight to the world.

Cloud looked at his watch again. It read: 8:15. "Wow, first day of school, and he's late, again." He mumbled as the clouds moved and allowed sunlight to sneak in through the cherry blossom trees.

"Alright freshies! Gather up!" shouted a voice in the distance.

Cloud got up and joined the crowd of students, and walked over to the male that stood between the school gates.

"Alright, now before we get started, anyone have any questions?" the boy asked. A black haired girl next to Cloud raised her hand, and a few more girls followed suit.

"Yes, you with the black hair, next to the dude with the blond hair."

"Um, are you a teacher?" she asked.

"Actually, no, I'm not a teacher. I'm a 12th grader here. I'm the student selected to represent the 12th grade class, and me and my group of friends, you could say, practically run the school. You'll get what I mean once you start school. Don't worry though, we're not like dictators or bullies or anything! Alright, next question! You, with the brunette hair and the pink bow."

"What's your name?" the brunette asked.

"Noctis Lucis Caelum. Noct for short. It's Latin for "Sky of the Night Light." Next….um, you. That short girl…that's bouncing up and down." Noctis said as his face turned into a look that practically showed he was weirded out.

"CAN I HAVE YOUR NUMBER?" she shouted. Most of the girls in the group gasped, and they all reached into their bags, and took out a pencil and notepad, all determined to get that black-haired hottie's number. Cloud rolled his eyes at the girls' actions, and looked at his watch again. 8:25, it read.

"Um, sure. Just don't flood me with texts and voice mails. 997-367-8901." He stated plainly, as he smirked at the girls furiously writing down those numbers. Noctis looked at his watch as well as he wiped the sweat off his forehead, that soaked the bangs of his messy, black hair and soft, tan skin. "Okay, so, we're out of time for questions," he said, earning many groans from the girls as they put down their hands. "Now, before we do our little welcome, let's make sure everyone's here now. Me and one of my friends here are going to call each and everyone of you, by last name. Prompto, get out here!" he shouted angrily at a boy hiding behind a brick wall** A blond messy-haired boy, wearing a standard gakuran*** , but colored white, stepped out from behind a brick wall near the school gate, and stood next to Noctis, greeting the 10th grade class with a smile that made the girls in the group, and some guys' faces, a bright shade of red, which made the raven-haired boy snicker at his friend.

"Do you always have to do this when you come out here? You do this every time you appear _anywhere_, even lunch!" Noctis exclaimed with a chuckle.

"What? It's fun seeing people's faces turn all red and stuff! Admit it," he said as he moved closer to Noctis. "You love it." Prompto whispered huskily into his friend's ear, sending a shiver down Noctis's spine. He pulled away from his ear, and placed a kiss on Noctis's lips.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" shouted most of the girls in the crowd as they fanned themselves with their hands, while the guys, and other girls that weren't fanning themselves, their mouths were gaping open, and the ones that blushed before, blushed even harder. Cloud was one of those that were blushing and his mouth open as well, until he heard a boy in the crowd start coughing, and put his hands on his neck as he fell to the ground.

Noctis pulled away from the kiss and ran to go check on the poor boy.

"Hey, you okay there dude?" he said as he bent down and patted the boy's back as he continued his coughing fit. After a few moments, the coughing ceased, and the boy spoke.

"Thanks, Noctis. I'm alright, just swallowed a fly by accident, thanks to your friend over there" he said as he pointed at Prompto, who lightly chuckled and smiled sheepishly as he scratched his head. Noctis stood up and walked over to his blond friend, and punched him in his stomach.

"That's why you don't do that, Prompto!" he shouted as he turned back to the crowd before him, leaving the blond gasping for air.

"Sorry about that little incident," he said as he shot a glare at his friend who still had his hand clutched to his stomach. "Now we'll call roll, as soon as this asshole is done writhing." A few moments later, Prompto got himself together, and proceeded with the roll as Noctis handed him a clipboard with a bunch of names on it.

"Now, you're going to call last names A-E, K-O, U-the one's without last names, while I call F-J and P-T, got it?" Noctis asked.

"Why do I have to call 3 sets and you call only 2?" his friend whined.

"Because, you almost made a poor boy choke to death! Not to mention, you kissed me in front of everybody!" he hissed.

"Hmph! His fault that his mouth was open! Plus, you were pretty much asking for that kiss."

"Whatever."

The two leaders started roll call, which made Cloud worry. He looked at his watch. 8:50, it read. _You're really late! Where are you?_ He thought.

"Seifer Alamsy" Prompto read.

"Here."

Seifer appeared to be a boy with blond hair, with light blue eyes and a facial expression that just screamed "Don't fuck with me, or I'll chop your dick off."

_Where could you be?_

"Zell Dincht?"

Zell appeared to also be a boy with blond hair and light blue eyes, but his hair was less tame than Seifer's and the front part stuck up, as if pointing to the sky. The most apparent difference, was the tattoo on the left side of his face that seemed to swirl across it.

"Present."

_WHERE ARE YOU?_

"Zack Fair." Noctis read.

No one answered.

"Zack Fair?" he looked up from his clipboard, and saw no one raising a hand either.

"Last call for Zack Fair! Zack Fair!"

"Here! I'm here!"

Cloud eyes widened and turned around to the voice behind him. He smiled at the raven-haired man walking towards him, whose hair protruded slightly backward, and a single bang was weirdly bent, and slightly covered his right eye. Zack smiled back at blond, and…

SLAP!

"You're late. Again." Cloud said plainly as Zack rubbed the spot that was just hit. He stuck his tongue out at the blond. "Yeah, yeah, this happens every year, I should be ashamed, blah, blah, blah. So…. what did I miss?" he asked. "A lot actually, I'll tell you about it at lunch. Right now, their taking roll call."

"Oerba Yun Fang?"

"Here."

She looked like a strong woman. Fang had long brunette hair that stopped at her neck and brown eyes that seemed to give off a caring expression that went along with the hard look on her face, yet she had a smile that could comfort anybody.

"Aerith Gainsborough?"

"Here."

_She was the one that asked for Noctis's name! _Cloud thought. She had long brunette hair that was complimented by a pink bow tied near the back of her head. She looked excited for the new school year, and couldn't wait to get the orientation started.

"Squall Leonhart?"

"Here."

Squall appeared to also be a brunette, but his hair was awfully long for a boy's hairstyle.

He also had a scar across the middle of his face. _Wonder what happened_, Cloud thought.

"Tifa Lockhart?"

_It's that girl from before_, Cloud thought. It was indeed that girl that was first to have her question answered by Noctis. She had beautiful long black hair that seemed soft to the touch, and her face showing an expression of confidence and toughness, yet caring.

"Here."

"K though O. Yuffie Kisaragi?" read Prompto.

"Here."

_She was the one bouncing up and down asking for his number!_ Cloud thought. She was a short little girl, with short, black hair that stopped at her neck, and a white bandana tied around forehead. Despite being in a uniform, she still looked like she had a crazy get-up on, kind of like a ninja in Cloud's eyes.

"P through T. Rufus Shinra?" Noctis read.

"Here"

Rufus had blond hair that looked like the front was pulled behind his head, but a few stray bangs weren't pushed back and were visible over his forehead.

"Cloud Strife?"

No answer.

Noctis looked up from his clipboard and looked around. "Cloud Strife?"

Zack nudged him in the shoulder, and Cloud straightened at attention.

"H-Here!" he shouted, his hand waving in the air. Noctis saw his hand and looked at the blonde. He then looked back down on his clipboard and marked him "Present", and proceeded with roll call, but not before he took one more glance in Cloud's direction.

"U through Z. Vincent Valentine?" Prompto read.

"Here."

Vincent looked just, plain mysterious. His skin was slightly pale, and he had long, black hair that seemed to stop halfway down his back. His eyes were abnormally red as he stared blankly at the men taking roll.

"Oerba Dia Vanille?"

"Here."

Vanille looked like a cheerful, happy young girl with light red, almost pinkish, colored hair that was tied in pigtails.

"One's without last names. Cissnei?"

"Here."

Cissnei had long, red hair that was straight at the top of her head, but as it fell down, it turned into slight curls, that complimented the look of her face, that seemed like she was down to earth, and gentle.

"Lightning?"

"Here."

She had long, pink hair that looked smooth to the touch. Part of her hair was over the front of her uniform, and her face looked like Fang's, determined and tough, yet still had a tiny hint of gentleness, that seemed to hide under that hardened expression.

"Reno?"

"Here."

Reno looked like the kind of person ready for party at anytime. He had long, red hair that was tied in a sort of ponytail fashion. He seemed really energetic and enthusiastic, and his voice gave a slight sarcastic-like tone to it.

"Tidus?"

"Here."

Tidus had slightly long, dirty blond hair that stopped at his jaw. He had a plain expression at the moment, as if he was hurrying to get this orientation over with. Tidus's gakuran was slightly buttoned down, slightly revealing a tan, muscular chest.

"Yuna?"

"Here."

Her voice sounded gentle and sweet, that was almost exactly like her features. She had silky brunette hair that ran down to her neck, and a smile that showed she was happy, and her sapphire eyes, caring.

The blond handed Noctis his clipboard. He nodded, and they begin the formalities.

"Alright, now that we all know your names, let's get this show on the road! Everyone, welcome to your first day here, at Midgar High!"

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><p>AN: Crappy way to end the chapter, but I pretty much had writer's block by the end of this chapter. I know that reading the roll call was probably really boring for you, but it's pretty much telling you most of the characters that will be in the story, so I just decided to put it in, so you guys will have a good idea of who to expect in here. Sorry that my descriptions seemed lazy. Like I said, I kinda had writer's block near the end of this, so…yeah. Again, my apologies for the extreme 2 month delay on this chapter.

Also, I have decided to post the "straight" version of this story with my own OCs on another website, so if you wish to read it, I shall give a link on it after I finish the first chapter, and place it in my profile.

As a side note, some of these characters, I do NOT know their personalities, but decided to put them in the story, because they were either popular in some of the FF games, or I just simply liked their appearance. An example of such a character is Noctis. I don't really know how he acts, since FFXIII Versus isn't out yet, so don't blame me! *hides in corner*

Hope you enjoyed! Please review! And sorry for any mistakes I may have in here! I don't have a beta, so yeah. xD

~Have some great PopTarts for breakfast!

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><p>* Japanese schools are different. Their primary schools are K-6, then Jr. High is 7-9, and High school is 10-12. Also, people call other people by their last name in Japan, and first names are used by people when they are close to that person. The way I described how the people acted in this chapter, are not how they really act in Japan. (That I know of) I don't think they have orientations on the first day, and I don't know if they really have student leaders in Japanese schools, so I'll just leave that to you, if you wish to find out. Anything I put in here about Japanese culture will always be tweaked to some extent, so don't expect it to be exactly how it is in Japan. The school's regulations will be twisted to my own wicked interest! *laughs all evil-like*<p>

Also, I don't know if the senpai (upperclassmen) are split in freshman, sophomores, etc, but I had Noctis refer to them as "freshies" since they're fresh into high school.

**Prompto. Weird name, but I think he looks cool. Just imagine him with a slightly better hairstyle, if you don't like his. xD If you guys find the name too weird to read, or if it gives confusion, give a suggestion for a nickname for him, in either a review or PM.

***Gakuran are standard Japanese uniforms for males. The females wear a sort of "sailor" outfit. Search in Google images for the pictures. The, I guess you could call it, "custom" of some sort, about gakuran and the last few days of school in Japan, is actually quite romantic. I advice you to Google it or go on Wikipedia if you do not know already. Some people find it stupid, I for one, find it so romantic!


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